First female cap on Herndon

[DanMa1156]

ROTC guy...not trying to talk smack or anything...just not understanding. Is it supposed to be a cooperative effort or a competitive one? I see guys making a human ladder, so it seems there's an element of cooperation involved, but then you're talking about pulling women down. It would seem that pushing a 110 lb person up would be a much easier task than someone bigger.

It's definitely cooperative. This year there just weren't very many women there or even trying to get to the top I thought. Last year was when I climbed and there was women at the Academy celebrations and events ALL YEAR LONG since it marked 30 years of women at the Academy. As such, there was a big push to get a girl to the top and a ton of girls would step on people and ruin the ladder in an effort to be on top. That annoyed enough people that you saw them get pulled down... kind of obvious when girls wore shirts saying "I want to get to the top!" and what not. And as far as the people-building go, yeah, the biggest guys were the bottom, the wrestlers, boxers, etc. Even some big heavyweight crew guys too. Towards the top were lighter and longer type guys... I was a couple rows up being 5'7"/ 142 lbs at the time...

As far as clean up goes, they weren't allowed to wear white works this year. The shoes were collected by the Midshipman Action Group for the charity, and the grounds had new grass laid down by the groundskeepers. The monument is probably pressure washed by them, but besides the very top, the plebes do a pretty good job of getting the lard off.

 

[HeyJoe]

080515-N-8963G-005 ANNAPOLIS, Md. (May 15, 2008) The U.S. Naval Academy Class of 2011 voted to place fallen shipmate Midshipman 4th Class Kristen Dickmann's cover on top of Herndon Monument to honor her memory. The Class of 2011 completed in the 101st annual Herndon Climb in 2:35:59. Plebes, or midshipmen 4th class, must use teamwork, strategy and communication to climb the 21-foot-tall monument and replace the traditional plebe cover at the top with a midshipman's cover. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Patrick Gordon (Released)

 

[HeyJoe]

Villanelle, it's OK (for you) to look and feel dirty

080515-N-4565G-015 ANNAPOLIS, Md. (May 15, 2008) A midshipman 4th class reaches out into the crowd of fellow class mates to assist them in their climb to the top of Herndon Monument during the 101st annual Herndon Climb at the U.S. Naval Academy. The Class of 2011 Plebes, or midshipmen 4th class, must use teamwork, strategy and communication to climb the 21-foot-tall monument and replace the traditional plebe cover at the top with a midshipman's cover. The class of 2011 completed the Herndon Climb in 2:35:59. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tommy Gilligan (Released)

 

[HeyJoe]

More for Villanelle

080515-N-8936G-002 ANNAPOLIS, Md. (15 May, 2008) Plebes lock arms at the foot of the lard-covered Herndon Monument to form a pyramid for classmates to climb to the top of the 21-foot-tall monument and replace the traditional plebe cap with a midshipman cap during the 101st annual Herndon climb at the U.S. Naval Accademy. The Herndon Climb is a rite of passage symbolizing the end of the midshipmen's plebe year. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Patrick Gordon (Released)

 

[xj220]

I just remember how bad it smelled and how hard it was to get that stuff off. Any word on her cause of death?

 

[HeyJoe]

Any word on her cause of death?

Latest reporting

 

[DSL1990]

using her cover was a lovely gesture. and i think the c/o 2011 should be proud that they maintained the tradition of herndon. i know it was under some pressure from the commandant, but alls well that ends well.

 

[phrogdriver]

Not to make too much light of a dead person, but I thought this was unusual...

“She said she planned to go to flight school and fly a C-2 Greyhound

Not that I don't comprehend the appeal of per diem and staying in hotels, but I just found it odd that a freshman dreamt of flying the mighty COD.

 

[CommodoreMid]

Hmm, it said her two roommates were first class, is that normal for roommates to be of mixed years? Or was that an error?

 

[Flash]

Hmm, it said her two roommates were first class, is that normal for roommates to be of mixed years? Or was that an error?

Almost certainly an error.

 

[villanelle]

Thanks for thinking of me, Joe!

 

[DanMa1156]

Hmm, it said her two roommates were first class, is that normal for roommates to be of mixed years? Or was that an error?

First thing I noticed about the article... DEFINITELY an error. I'm in the same Battallion... and that doesn't happen anywhere throughout the Academy.

 

[xj220]

My plebe year we had a 2/c living with two firsties, but that's about the limit. I know a lot of the old timers and even a bunch of guys I graduated with would have a heart attack seeing a female's cover up there, but you can't argue against it, especially this time. Glad to see them paying tribute. I think when a mid dies it hits a lot more than it would at a normal school since everyone is a lot closer and the community is tighter.

 

[HeyJoe]

Thanks for thinking of me, Joe!

My pleasure! I have 3 younger sisters and 3 sisters in law so I am used to seeing such interest. I can send you the links if you want them in high res (for wallpaper for your computer).

 

[Meryden]

Yeah, it was good to see them use both MIDN Dickmann's Dixie Cup and Combo Cover. Apparently the class voted to use them; a few brought male Combo Covers, but they were confiscated. Took them a long time to get it up there, but they did it. It was fun to work the event and watch it from the outside for the first time.

It wasn’t fun for me from the inside. Kristen was my teammate and friend. I was also sexually assaulted several times while participating. It’s years later and I’m up scheduling appointments with my therapist …looking up old threads about Herndon on the internet at 11pm 14 years later …Wishing I had just stayed at a normal college.

Go fuck yourself USNA you ruined my FUCKING LIFE.

I’m not the only one. If even one woman was assaulted like I was once a year since they let women in- well you can fucking do math you pieces of shit. Usna doesn’t calculate on that because if they did they would have outrage. If they really knew what all they sexual assault numbers meant. I mean really fucking meant to the lives of those that have reported. The real value, excuse me the total devaluing they’ve done to the lives of so many women under their wing has made me literally vomit before. But your reading this and thinking I’m somehow over the top? That’s because you DON’t GET IT.

Did one person ever warn me? Nope. Did everyone I reported it to after blame me, for “getting too close” and for not expecting it from a mob? Yes. A mob!? Is that what USNA was supposed to be? No it’s supposed to be some kind of morally superior institution. You think plebe year is a long enough time for a company to wean out a predictor right? Wrong because usna is a perfect incubator for predictors, excuse me a perfect place for one to hide. I just wish someone would have said something anything to maybe slightly deter males from attacking females, instead Navy just doesn’t talk about it. It’s a fucking female problem I guess. Well no. And not when we don’t know about it. Sure wish anyone had told me to keep my distance and I would have. I only really got in there because my teammate and friend was a fucking winner and she would have. it was really a nice touch too to hear all my male classmates bitch and complained about having to put her cover on there especially while grieving her. America finest.

Usna wants women to be men and even then they don’t accept them. And they promote men and women who hate women and they have no clue what they are doing. They think sexual assault is ok so long as you have a long standing tradition that brings great fucking photo ops . Why the silence on the second long-standing tradition of groping and assaulting women to make sure they don’t get close. I didn’t wanna fucking get to the top I wanted to see my shipmate be honored. Some honor

If you’re female and reading this go rotc your not welcome at a service academy. I pray you never find yourself the way I’ve found myself even years after graduation, feeling like a plebe, forever.

Plebe no more?

Not for some of us.